The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
When performing an analysis of indoor airborne fungal spores in a home, commercial building or other structure, typically one or more indoor airborne fungal spore sample are taken along with one or more outdoor airborne fungal spore samples. The outdoor samples are typically taken in a relatively close proximity to the home or building, and typically within about 20 feet of the home or building. The goal is for the outside samples to represent the level of fungal spores found in the air entering the home or building. At least one outdoor sample is typically taken to determine if airborne fungal spores detected within the home or building are originating from a location within the home or building or are simply entering from the outdoor ambient environment. This is an important consideration because without a representation of outdoor airborne fungal spore data, one may incorrectly assume levels of one or more airborne spore types detected within the home or building are originating from some location within the home or building when they originate within the general region of the home or building (e.g., within the city or county limits). An incorrect understanding may lead the owner of the home or building to initiate expensive remediation efforts in an effort to find and remove materials that may be the source of the airborne fungal spores. But if outdoor airborne fungal spore information is available for comparison purposes, then one may conclude that elevated levels of detected spores within the home or building are originating from the ambient outdoor environment instead. In such case there may be no need to take any remediation steps within the building.
The above analysis can be significantly complicated by climate variations within a given region and other factors. For example, California has a number of distinct climates ranging from warm temperate areas to arid desert areas. As a result, outdoor spore samples collected in one region of California may vary dramatically from samples collected in other parts of the state. This can make it challenging to obtain outdoor airborne fungal spore data that reliably and accurately indicates the true airborne fungal spore counts for various types of spores in a given geographic location, say for example within the city or county that the home or building is located. This can reduce the confidence level that the outdoor spore samples obtained are truly representative of the outdoor ambient environment around the home or building.
Further complicating the analysis is that the outdoor spore samples obtained may have been obtained during or immediately after some significant weather related event in the geographic area that temporarily, but significantly, alters the spore levels detected in the outdoor samples. In such a case the outdoor samples may indicate spore levels that are misleading and are either elevated or below those that would typically be present at most times of the year in that specific geographic area. As one example, a strong rain storm within a given area may result in temporarily, but significantly, elevated levels of some types of spores. Such information would complicate the comparison between the indoor and outdoor spore samples.
In view of the above factors and considerations, it becomes of paramount importance to have a system and/or methodology that is able to intelligently obtain and make use of a wider range of outdoor spore sample data. In this manner an even more accurate and intelligent assessment of indoor spore sample data can be made.